Originally Posted by
inOban
Sotonsean states that the coaches are operated on on behalf of the cruise companies. Any flights would presumably be the same - it may be that EZY flights from BFS and GLA are largely prebooked in the same way.
For MAN the advantages of the coaches - the ability of the coach to pick up at various places en route, and avoid a separate coach from SOU to the cruise terminal - may outweigh the faster flight.
What would be interesting would be flights bringing cruise passengers from the continent but Brexit may have ruined that.
What's interesting is that Cunard arrange a coach transfer for the Queen Mary 2 transatlantic sailings direct from the cruise terminals to London St Pancras Station for passengers using the Eurostar.
Prior to the collapse of Flybe and BMI, the former German routes were fairly popular with cruise traffic.
Passengers from mainland Europe travelling to the Port of Southampton to join their cruise tend to use LGW and LHR and transfer by coach direct to the port's cruise terminals.
If only there were better options direct from mainland Europe to Southampton Airport.
With the majority of the ship crews originating from the east, the crew changes can be quite intensive. The majority of them travel via LGW and LHR, usually with Emirates. There are also times when members of crew also use the KLM flight from Southampton.
Bit of nostalgia regarding previous cruise ship charters.
Way back in May 1980 Norwegian Cruise Line had two charter flights into Southampton Airport in connection with their latest ship at the time the elegant SS NORWAY.
The two flights consisted of a Braathens SAFE Boeing 737-200 and a Nor Fly Convair 580, both flights were from Oslo.
In the June of 1980 Cunard had two charter flights to Southampton Airport connecting with a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Elizabeth 2.
The two flights consisted of a Sterling Airways Caravelle from Copenhagen and a Transavia Boeing 737-200 from Amsterdam.
On a slightly humorous note, an American passenger once asked me if Southampton had an airport after she had seen a plane in the air.
That passenger was taking the coach transfer to LHR to connect with a flight to the USA.
After I had informed her that Southampton did indeed have an airport her immediate question was "can you fly to New York from Southampton".
If only 😪